Comments on: Traditional Cider Win

By: Sparkling Cider Saga | Culture Of Adventure

Sparkling Cider Saga | Culture Of Adventure — Fri, 24 Feb 2012 04:17:13 +0000

[...] I was in the middle of apple pressing season last fall, Kevin posted on Traditional Sparkling Cider. Basically, the idea is to ferment your cider to an S.G. of 1.005 and bottle in flip-top bottles. [...]

By: Kevin

Kevin — Wed, 15 Feb 2012 14:03:56 +0000

Marcus – fantastic!! I may end up doing some of that very same thing, as I only have 1 bottle of the traditional method [for lack of a better term]. Thankfully I have a few carboys to which I can back-sweeten to carbonate. Enjoy your newfound wealth.

By: Marcus

Marcus — Wed, 15 Feb 2012 04:20:47 +0000

Since I kinda took over the comments on this post I thought I would give an update on my previously failed sparkling cider attempt. Come to find out, I must have made a hydrometer reading flub. A little over a week ago I checked the sugar levels in one of my flat bottles and lo and behold, there wasn’t any. There was no sugar! I mixed up a simple syrup and added until the sg level was right. Since I fussed with that bottle so much I tossed it, but opened the rest of the bottles and added the appropriate amount and re-sealed them. A week and a half later…. I have sparkling cider! And its awesome! Kind of a back-assward way of doing it, but it looks like it worked. Disaster averted. Thanks for the coaching Kevin!

By: Marcus

Marcus — Thu, 15 Dec 2011 15:11:26 +0000

Thanks for the input. The only thing I can think of is the yeast either died or went dormant in the bottling process. This stuff is always an adventure to try. Maybe I’ll have better luck next time!

By: Kevin

Kevin — Sun, 11 Dec 2011 18:44:48 +0000

Marcus – Hm. I put it in my basement at about the same temp, maybe a couple degrees higher for a couple weeks before storing at 6C or so. That is odd. Assuming you have residual sugar in there and have active yeast, they should do the job. I’m stumped.

By: Marcus

Marcus — Sun, 11 Dec 2011 18:30:13 +0000

Well, it’s been over a month and my cider hasn’t carbonated. The first bottle that I opened after two weeks had a little carbonation, but the one I opened last night was flat as a pancake. One possible mistake was putting the bottles in my basement right after bottling (around 62 degrees f.) Do you think that is too cold?

By: Kevin

Kevin — Mon, 14 Nov 2011 13:58:37 +0000

Marcus – duh, sorry about that. Your estimation based on post-time is likely correct. It’s been progressively more carbonated since then, and now when decanted [I find it useful so the whole bottle can come out in one pour, leaving the lees behind - far better end result], it has a big head of foamy awesomeness. Good luck and let me know how your turns out!

By: Marcus

Marcus — Mon, 14 Nov 2011 13:39:49 +0000

Right. I meant how long until your first tasting after you bottled. Two weeks? More? Sorry for the confusion.

By: Kevin

Kevin — Sun, 13 Nov 2011 13:17:06 +0000

Marcus – I waited until the S.G. was 1.005 as per the specs of the bottle capacity to hold pressure. So I was watching the S.G., not the time. Hope that helps, and so glad you’re taking a run at it!!!

By: Marcus

Marcus — Sun, 13 Nov 2011 05:24:30 +0000

Ok, so I bottled 5 gallons of traditional cider last night as per your instructions. I’m also hoping that bursting bottles won’t be bursting my bubble! From the timing of your posts, it seems like you waited a couple of weeks to try it out. Is that right?